WASHINGTON – The Terrapin women’s lacrosse team skipped class Monday afternoon, but for good reason: The White House beckoned.
Joined by their graduated teammates one final time, the sport’s reigning national champions commemorated their 13-11 title victory this May over Northwestern at a reception on the South Lawn with President Barack Obama.
Continuing a Washington tradition of honoring national champions, Obama personally congratulated the Terps, along with more than 650 title-winners from last year, for their on-field achievements.
“This is the most athletic talent we’ve ever had on the South Lawn,” Obama said.
For some such as head coach Cathy Reese, a former national champion as both a player and an assistant coach, the visit to the White House was nothing new. But for almost all of the other Terps, it was something else.
“This is crazy,” attacker Karri Ellen Johnson said as she stood on the South Lawn. “Just being here is amazing. Seeing [Obama] up there, shaking his hand … he even talked to my camera. I feel honored to be here.”
Monday afternoon, the team met on the campus before busing to the nation’s capital. After checking through security, the team moved to the lawn to enjoy food and drinks with the rest of the teams while a band played fight songs in the background.
Obama made his entrance at 5:45 p.m., and a sea of phones and cameras emerged almost instantly to capture the moment. As he strode to his podium, Obama smiled and waved to the crowd.
“That makes me so proud to stand before you here today, because when each of you won the titles that you won — whether it was in lacrosse or gymnastics or wheelchair basketball — you didn’t do it as professionals,” Obama said. “You didn’t have multimillion-dollar contracts or huge endorsement deals.
“And most impressive of all, you did this while shouldering a full load of classes — sometimes grabbing a few minutes to study in airports or locker rooms.”
After the five-minute speech, the team posed for pictures with the president and snapped shots of the White House and Washington Monument. The Terps then departed for a final team dinner together at Sakura.
“It’s funny, because I sat up and talked [to the team] and didn’t think anything of it, but when I sat back down I realized it might be the last time,” Reese said. “We’re missing [recent graduate] Karissa [Taylor], but we have [Amanda Spinnenweber], [Brittany] Jones, Caitlyn [McFadden], Abby [Caso]. It’s just nice to have everyone back together.”
While Monday’s ceremony was not as personal as it had been in the past, when each national champion had its own session with the president, the Terps still relished rubbing elbows with the 32 other national championship teams.
“It’s an experience to come to the White House and see the president up close, but also all the other student-athletes that have won championships,” interim Athletics Director Randy Eaton said.
“It’s kind of humbling, because you’re not the only one,” Johnson said. “It just goes to show that everyone has worked hard for this.”
Though the Terps lost five starters from the team that captured the program’s 10th national championship last season, they likely will not be caught glancing back. The return of prolific attackers Sarah Mollison and Johnson, along with rising star midfielder Katie Schwarzmann, could have the Terps making a return trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. sometime in the very near future.
“I’m one that really believes in celebrating your successes, and this is a chance to really recognize the success that the 2010 team had,” Reese said. “But once tonight’s done, it’s a new team.”
ceckard@umdbk.com
